QOTD: In the past we have talked about the Barkley Marathon and the little film about it on Netflix. Well this year no one finished all 5 loops. In fact no one finished 4 loops. Only the "fun run" was finished this year. To read more use this link from
Runners World. So todays question I wanted to ask is have you ever got to the starting line of a race and thought theres a realistic chance that you will not finish despite being well prepared for the race? For those ultra runners in the group, maybe the idea of this is a little closer to home... With only 40 entrants per year, if you could get a spot in the race would you try it?
So, I'm doing QOTD's out of order ... but I FINALLY just watched the documentary, even though I've read numerous stories about it.
My answers, in reverse:
1. Not an Ultra Runner - but even then, FORK NO. Unless you're promising me PowerBall money just for attempting it ... it just looks miserable. Trail running doesn't look fun to me at all. Heck, I've proven I can't even run on an urban trail without tripping and tearing up body parts. I'm fairly certain I would be the first person to die, and it would probably be in that tunnel under the prison. But, that said - I don't hike. I don't orienteer. I was a Girl Scout in Florida, but that really didn't count because we didn't camp and instead went to beach camps for our "campouts". Heck, I can't really get anywhere without CarPlay in my Tahoe and my iPhone - so I'd be dead in the water without GPS, text messages, headphones, music, the internet, at least two LTE bars, etc.
My sweet friend
@tigger536 is running the Barkley Fall Classic though - in hopes of being first female and getting a guaranteed placement in the big dance. She's one of the smartest people I know ... but geez-oh-Pete, she's crazy (love you, J!!).
My Sole Sister back here in FW, Kari, ran the BMW Dallas Marathon in December. In February, she ran her first trail Ultra - and finished first female! - and her training was going so well, she put in for the lottery for Leadville ... and lo and behold, she got in! I'm freaking stoked to go spectate her in August and be part of her support team - so the documentary gave me a good idea for what to initially plan for.
In the documentary, I think it was John maybe? but he just had something in him go off that made him decide to take on a challenge - hike the Appalachian Trail. And then a friend said they were going to run a Marathon, so he thought he might go for that. That REALLY struck a chord with me ... I feel like you've either been a runner all your life and you've always known what the "challenge scale" has been, or there was some point in your life where you need that "impossible" challenge, where that drive and desire to accomplish something new and scary that was hidden so deep inside you -it comes to the forefront and there's nothing you can do but just follow where those crazy impulses take you. I guess that's why I've done three Dopeys.
2. Only once -
Disneyland Half in 2016. Probably shouldn't have done the race weekend at all, or should have at least bailed on the 5 and 10K. But I'm a dummy, and I had plans to run with friends, so it clouded my judgment. I knew I was so bad off injury wise before I started the half that I was carrying a pot of Tiger Balm, a tube of BioFreeze and a painkiller that I would only allow myself to take after Mile 11. Every Mile, I stopped to stretch my hip and medicate my ankle, and after a few miles I had a bike medic following me saying that I needed to stop so he could take a look. After the third or fourth time, I told him that he wasn't going to pull me but I promised that I would tell him if I was done. At that point, only my hip was really hurting - not my ankle on my small leg and clubfoot, but I knew that the minute that started causing me pain I would tap out - there are so many screws and pins and plates and fusions in there that it's just not worth it. I finished the stupid half marathon, but I ended up with a stress fracture in my ankle and a Grade II sprain in my hip.
Even thinking about it now, I'm not sure what I would've done if I had a chance to do it all over again. It shut me down until almost Dopey 2017 - and then Mother Nature threw me a bone by canceling the half, so I was able to complete that challenge. But the residual effects are still present.
. This thread is definitely informative and entertaining. I'm glad I can finally join in on answering the QOTD. But of course the one I can finally answer is one I don't have an answer for! 
Our facility runs off a boiler plant and they have turned off the heat but it takes a few weeks for the water to cool down so they can turn on the air conditioning. So my office was HOT too! I don't know if I will ever run at lunch again, at least not until they turn our air on!
